High-fidelity avatars for behavior and cognition research in virtual environments: An accessible construction method for scientists

In plain English

A step-by-step recipe for building animatable, photorealistic avatars of real people from a handheld 3D face scan, using mostly free or widely available software and no 3D art team, published with a construction manual and a walkthrough video. Two pre-registered experiments show the avatars behave as stimuli should: participants shifted attention in response to the avatars' eye gaze, replicating the classic gaze-cueing effect, and recognised anger, happiness and sadness about as accurately as from photographs of the same people, though fear read less clearly. For anyone who needs consistent, controllable avatar faces to test gaze, expression or trust — including user research on an avatar product — this is a documented pipeline rather than a bespoke build.